hood. From that hour to the present, I have been the victim of a similar conspiracy, which has been incited by the same motives, and prosecuted with the same views, though with increased violence, and with aggravated malignity. New and more appalling efforts have been made to destroy that character which had resisted so many former attempts; but I rejoice that I now find, as I at that time found, the people of Westminster uninfluenced by the powerful machinations of my enemies, and animated by the same sentiment which they then expressed, that every subject, until convicted of guilt, had an undoubted right to retain the reputation, the rights, and immunities of innocence.

"In the present perilous crisis of my fate, I am supported by that courage which arises from the consciousness of rectitude; and I feel that the English people will never suffer an injured Queen to appeal in vain either to their justice or to their humanity. I am convinced that in this land of liberty no oppression can be practised, and that to be upright is to be secure.

“In the warm desire which the people of Westminster have expressed for the vindication of my honour, they have exhibited a striking testimony of their loyalty to the King; for the honour of his Majesty must for ever be identified with that of his Queen.

My first wish is to prove that my character has been unjustly traduced; my next is to terminate my days among the high-minded people of this country, to whose affectionate sympathy I am at present indebted for so much of the cheerfulness which I feel, and of the support which I possess, under the pressure of such complicated wrongs, and such accumulated persecutions."

HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS OF THE INHABITANTS OF NEWBURY.

"His Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, inhabitants of the Borough of Newbury, merit my grateful acknowledgments for this frank and affectionate address. During my long absence from this country, I never ceased to remember the obligations which I owed to its high-minded generosity. Those obligations have been greatly increased since my return; and I should be insensible to all right feeling, if I did not, hereafter, consider England as my only home.

"I have shed many tears over the early grave of the Princess Charlotte; and I am, at this moment, sensibly affected by the tribute of affection which you have paid to her memory, and by that tender recollection of her worth which is so universally cherished.

"When death removed his late revered Majesty to a happier scene, I instantly felt the magnitude of the loss I had sustained; while his sacred life was spared, it operated like a barrier against the vengeance of my persecutors. But his dear remains were hardly cold, when my enemies began to renew their persecutions, and to load me with aggravated indignities. I was almost instantly held up to the people as a criminal, unworthy of having my name inserted in their devotional formularies. The conspiracy, which had been defeated, though only by a partial investigation of my conduct, in 1806 and 1807, again reared its vindictive head; and an attempt is now making to degrade me in rank, and to sink me in infamy, by a procedure, which is at once an outrage upon all law, and wholly incompatible with the spirit of the British Constitution. But my honour and my rights are, in fact, those of the country; and every one is interested in their preservation.-The tyranny, which destroys me to-day, makes every man's liberty less secure to-morrow.---In the

present alarming crisis, when I am attacked by the strong arm of overwhelming power, I rely first, as an innocent woman, upon the favour of a protecting Providence; and next, as an insulted and a persecuted Queen, upon the sympathies of the people; and upon that potent agency of public opinion, which now forms the best safeguard against the aggressions of tyranny, and the enormities of injustice."

HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS OF THE BARONS AND INHABITANTS OF SANDWICH.

"In the loyal and warm-hearted sentiments of this Address, the barons and inhabitants of the ancient town and port of Sandwich have shewn themselves entitled to my affectionate regard. I deeply deplore the loss of the Princess Charlotte, not only because she was my beloved daughter, but because she was Britain's animating hope. The decease of our late revered Sovereign deprived me of one to whom I had for merly been indebted for solace in sorrow, and for protection in adversity.

"If the people of England are prohibited from praying for me with their lips, the affectionate addresses which I am receiving from all parts of the country, and from all ranks of the community, convince me that I am not forgotten in the silent adoration of their hearts.

"I desire no praise for not compromising my honour for any pecuniary consideration. Honour is above all compromise; and I should spurn the offer of millions, if it were made the condition of leaving a stain upon my character. In the malicious and unjustifiable attacks which are making upon my honour as a woman, and upon my rights as a Queen, I trust

that my enemies will never be permitted to violate the sanctuary of the Constitution."

"I accept with gratitude this loyal and affectionate Address from the merchants and other inhabitants of the town and county of the town of Poole. When they speak of the late Princess Charlotte as the best hope of the nation, and of the late beloved King as the kind protector of my innocence, their language is in perfect unison with the conviction of my mind, and with the feelings of my heart.

"I feel no inquietude about the result of the present attack upon my honour and my peace. The charges against me in 1806 had no other origin than malice, and no other support than perjury. The charges against me in 1820 will be found to be equally destitute of proof.

"I should have been humiliated beneath contempt if I had suffered my character to become an affair of pecuniary calculation. I should instantly have been deprived of that self respect which is the basis of virtue, as well as have forfeited the esteem of this noble nation, if, in a late attempt at negociation on the part of my accusers, I had exhibited a spirit unworthy of a British Queen. If there can be any satisfaction in what is sordid in sentiment and debased in conduct, I willingly resign that to the pusillanimity of my adversaries.

"If I can in any way contribute to the happiness of the nation, I shall always consider the augmentation of that happiness as an accession to my own. My welfare is the welfare of the people; their good is my good; and their prosperity my highest exultation.

"I should feel myself unworthy of the elevated station which I occupy, if I could approve the practice, or cherish the sentiment, of revenge. That principle ought to have no residence in any royal breast.

"If England was not my native country, the people of England have rendered it as dear to me as the land of my nativity. In their enlightened sentiments of justice, in their generous affections, and in their steady loyalty, I possess a strength which no menace can shake, and a comfort which no adversity can take away."

HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS ANSWER TO THE INHABITANTS OF

SHAFTESBURY.

"I cordially thank the Mayor of Shaftesbury, and the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, for this loyal and affectionate Address. The sympathy which they evince for the melancholy losses and the reiterated persecutions which I have endured, cannot but be gratifying to the best feelings of my heart.

"To whatever trials I may have been exposed since I first set my foot on the English shore, I shall never forget, that, in those trials, I was consoled by the tenderness, and supported by the magnanimity of the English nation.

"Though I am well acquainted with the activity and the malignity of my adversaries, I place a firm reliance upon the protection of that great Being, from whom no secrets are hid; and while those, who are no less the enemies of his Majesty than of myself, are endeavouring to ruin me by their wiles and to crush me by their power, I am cheered by the consciousness that I possess a strong rampart of security in the good sense, good feelings, and good principles of this enlightened people."